"I am a canvas of my experience, my story is etched in lines and shading, and you can read it on my arms, my legs, my shoulders, and my stomach." -Kat Von D

A new and emerging TV show called THE INK MASTER has been very popular because it is the first competition television show about tattoos.The show consists of 10 of the most artistic and creative tattoo artist compete to the end for the grand prize. A prize of a hundred thousand dollars. The show starts with small flash challenges that consist of many things. Things like painting cars to demonstrate how straight they can make a line, or tattooing very small tattoos on people to demonstrate precision. The winner of the flash challenge that demonstrates the best skill of that week then has an advantage for the elimination challenge. This is where the tattoo artist show their skills on a particular theme of that week. They have six hours to finish the tattoo, and then they are judged on it. Sometimes people do not finish, or the canvas cannot handle the pain, or the tattoo goes terribly wrong under pressure. Many things can go wrong. The artist are then critiqued on their tattoos and four will be called back to the judging panel. There’s usually a top artist, and a bottom artist of the group. The artist that had the worst tattoo of the week will be required to pack up and go home. The people who determine this are the three judges Dave Navarro, Chris Nunez, and Oliver Peck. Each all have many tattoos, but only Chris and Oliver are tattoo artist. Like all competition shows, there are many twist throughout the seasons and a big season finale. The season finale of this show usually consists of a tattoo of 18 hours or even more that will be judged in the end.

Tattoos have originally been made out of black ink. Then color slowly became another factor into tattoos. Today, our technology has increased greatly to the point where we can create water color tattoos, white ink tattoos, UV (black light) tattoos, and even cosmetic make up.

WATER COLOR TATTOOS have recently become popular in today’s world. These particular tattoos are just like watercolor paintings, except on your skin. Watercolor tattoos unfortunately don’t last as long as traditional ones because the tattoo is made up of light colored shading instead of defined with a black outline.They are beautiful tattoos and will definitely catch your eye.

WHITE INK TATTOOS use a special white ink to make faint marks on someones skin. Many people get these tattoos because they are not as bold as traditional black ink tattoos. They are also very unique and many different things can be done with white ink. White ink tattoos are very hard to spot and almost look like a lace over the skin. These tattoos have many negatives, as they fade easily in the sun, and have a higher chance of becoming infected or giving your skin a reaction.

UV (BLACK LIGHT) TATTOOS use special ink that can be seen under a black light. Some inks will be shown to the eye and some will only be shown under a black light. You can use particular colors and inks to make a very neat tattoo. There are also many negatives to UV tattoos, as they have recently become popular, we don’t know much about them and the inks used. You always have the factor of fading as it ages as well.

COSMETIC TATTOOS are permanent makeup. You can get your eyeliner, lipstick, eyebrows, and many other things tattooed. You need a very skilled artist to do cosmetic tattoos because it is not easy. These types of tattoos are popular because it saves someone from doing their makeup in the morning, or someone who needs to draw in their eyebrows doesn’t have to do it anymore. This is common in both genders.

I have a lot of ideas for tattoos I would like to get in the future. One of the ideas I have are celtic designs. I am very Irish and my family takes pride in our heritage. The first tattoo idea I have is a celtic cross. My grandma had given me a necklace for Christmas when I was younger and I fell in love with it. I never take it off. Over this past summer I had drawn up my own personal design of what exact tattoo I want in the future. Another tattoo I have is a celtic owl. The animal has no meaning to me personally except for the fact that I think owls are neat. This idea came from a celtic owl designs I found on the internet. I haven’t found an exact design I liked, but their are two specific designs I found that I would make one owl from different factors from the two designs. I was planning on drawing my design idea after the spring semester once my workload lightened up. I also just recently thought of a neat tattoo design to represent all my close family members. I was planning on getting this one on my thigh. I was imagining a tree with green leaves. This would represent our “family tree.” And I would then make one leaf a different color corresponding to the birthstone of one of my family members. So I would have a bunch of green normal leaves with multicolored leaves scattered with each leaf representing someone. I plan on waiting a long time to get any of these tattoos because I feel that I haven’t had enough time to really think this through. I know that I will not get any tattoos on my arms or upper body near the shoulders because I do not want any tattoos to be visible during my wedding. Just my personal preference. Also I obviously wouldn’t want to ruin my chances at a future job for my tattoos as well.

TOMMY MONTOYA is a legendary black and grey tattoo artist. His plan was to go to school to be a doctor, but his creative side told him that tattooing was right for him. He learned to tattoo from his cousin who was just rele ased from prison. Tommy and his brother each learned the art of tattooing, and used each other to better themselves and be the tattoo artist they are today. Tommy started to become serious about tattooing in 1998 when he got his first machines. He won maybe awards for his creativity. Tommy currently tattoos at Wooster St. Social Club in New York City, and is on a reality documentary called NY Ink. He specializes and portraits and black and white styling. Portrait styling is one of the most difficult styles of tattooing to work with because you have an exact picture of the person you are trying to re-image on someones skin. If you change one aspect of their face, the face will look completely different than the printed picture. Black and grey style is also very difficult, because the tattoo will fade over time and lose its dimensions. It is the artists job to make sure the tattoo is dark enough so it will heal correctly. But just like any legendary artist, Tommy can do anything the client brings to him. He is not just restricted to black and grey and portraits. He excels with color and any other styling of tattooing. Tommy is featured on the TV show NY Ink. NY Ink is a reality TV show of Tommy’s tattoo shop. The show goes through the art movement of tattoo artist throughout New York. To be a good tattoo artist you need to please your client. To be a great artist you need to please any client that walks through your shop door, and that is who Tommy is.

Tattoos are permanent, they stay on your skin forever. So what happens if you had a drunken night at the bar only to wake up with an “I love My Little Pony” written on your arm. There are two options. First, you can get it medically removed. I long drawn out process that is very painful. Or, you can get it covered up with a different tattoo.

LASER TATTOO REMOVAL

Your unique tattoo may take as many as two removal sessions, or up to 10 sessions. It depends on color, size, age of the tattoo, color of the patients skin, and whether it was some professionally, or by an ameture. The pain is compared to a splash of greece, or a rubber band snapping against the skin. Laser tattoo removal comes with risks like infections, scarring, or discoloration of the skin. Depending on how many sessions you visit, the higher the price will be.

Here are two examples of people that have received laser tattoo removal. As you can see, even after a number of treatments, the tattoo has not completely disappeared from the skin.

COVER UPS

Another way to get rid of your regretful tattoo is to get it covered up with another tattoo. There are only a few artist that have the skill to cover up a tattoo. You need darker colors in the spots where the previous tattoo is so it won’t show through. The downside of this is that you have to get another tattoo, and after your first mistake, it may not be the best idea to make a commitment to another permanent tattoo. Another negative side effect to cover ups is that you have to get the tattoo in the same place, and it has to be the correct shape to go over the past one. It also has to have dark colors in the places that need covering up the most. Here are two highly talented artist that used amazing skills to cover up two difficult tattoos.

Tattoos have become very popular. Many people have tattoos, or they either want tattoos. This growing trend is now creating problems in the workplace, since many people would not hire someone with visible tattoos or tattoos in general. My opinion on this issue is that you should not be judged by your appearance. For example, if you have two people going against each other for a job. The first person has tattoos and piercings, but they excel in what they do, have an amazing work ethic, and are above average at their job. The second person is well dressed, but is only average at what he does and makes a lot of recurring mistake. Which person would you hire? Most employers wouldn’t even interview the first person just because of their outside appearance. This is a very poor policy on employers because they have lost out on a hardworking individual. My take on this perspective, is that no one should be judged on their outside appearance. Tattoos do not change who you are as a person. Just because someone has a tattoo, does not mean their morals have changed, or that they are any less of a person. They are the same hardworking, intelligent individual they were before. Everyone has a way of expressing themselves. Some people may express themselves through tattoos, and that should be socially acceptable. I think one reason many people discriminate against tattoos, is because they have previously been associated with gangs and criminals. But no one has realized that times have changed, and tattoos have become more common than ever. Certain tattoos are worn to remember a great ancestor, or to show their pride for their religions, or even because a certain symbol, or quote means so much to an individual, that they choose to wear it on their skin forever. I do not believe people should looked down upon for any of these reasons for getting tattoos. As the next generation, we need to work towards a better future, where you are not looked down on for getting ink. A future where you can express yourself, and also pursue your dream job at the same time.

If you wanted background information on this issue, here are two articles you can read that are very informative:

From JAPANESE to English, Irezumi stands for the insertion of ink under the skin to leave a permanent, usually decorative mark. Japanese tattoo style originally emerged as a way to show your social status and spiritual symbols. But as time we on, it became a form of punishment, and a way to recognize criminals. People like criminals, prisoners of war, and slaves were tattooed so they would stand out in society. This practice faded and Japanese tattoos returned to symbolizing protection and devotion and was eventually banned. Many were curious of these Japanese tattoo artists, asking to get tattooed by them, and kept Japanese style alive.

Today, Japanese style is known for its beautiful style and composition, and for its meaningful designs. There is not one tattoo in Japanese style that does not have a meaning. Different kinds of Japanese tattoos are dragons, koi fish, phoenix, tiger, lion (fu-dog), snakes, skulls, flowers, oni masks, cherry bosoms, and waves. Each of these tattoos have a deep meaning behind it and symbolizes something. For example, the Oni masks means good and evil, protectors, tricksters, and demons. If you got a snake, your tattoo would represent protection, wisdom, good luck, strength, and change. The snake also symbolizes Divine Feminine, also known is the holy female attributes. Koi tattoos represent determination, strength, courage, and desire for success. The Koi fish represents strength and bravery for the way they swam upstream against the water. If you want to read more on what the previously stated Japanese tattoos mean, click here. These are also not the only Japanese tattoos that exist, there are many more. If you are interested in seeing a wide variety of all the different types of Japanese tattoos there are, click here.

JAPANESE STYLE TATTOO has been around for many and many of years. Starting as spiritual symbols moving into a way of identifying criminals. It is a well known style in our modern world. The most interesting part of Japanese style is that every design symbolizes something different, so if you are interested in Japanese, make sure you know what it symbolizes before getting permanently inking it on your body!